Don't Be Surprised By Troubles

Peter says, "Don't be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you. don't feel as though something strange is happening to you, but be happy as you share Christ's sufferings." Peter's imagery reminds us that fiery troubles will come, and they have a purpose. Isaiah says that God "has tested you in the furnace of suffering." David says in Psalms that God tested him like silver. Peter says that we shouldn't become upset or think it's strange when we experience this fire. We are tested by fire, just as as precious metal is refined by fire.

When we go through this suffering, though, God doesn't abandon us - he strengthens us. Martin Luther says, "The gospel is a powerful Word, but it cannot do its work without trials. No one will discover its power unless he experiences it. The gospel can only show its power where there is a cross and where there is suffering."

The Catholic Church has a long tradition about suffering - one that includes the concept that one cannot truly experience God's presence unless they have suffered significantly. I understand that is one of their tests for sainthood. But nobody in this culture is likely to ask to be in pain or have difficulties - most often I hear prayers that God take them away.

So it becomes an interesting conundrum - do we pray against the pain, asking God to take it away? Or do we thank Him for it because we know we grow through His walking beside us as we go through it? What do you think?

Faith - The Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Near where I live is a lovely river that runs through town. In the spring the waters run fast and present quite a spectacle. There is a foot bridge that suspends you just a few feet above a narrow waterfall. Unable to hear anything but the sound of the water, I inch out onto the swinging, narrow walkway to become immersed in the sounds, sights, smells and spray of the water. It is as close to the violence nature can create as I ever want to be.

Nearby is another bridge. I have driven over that bridge maybe once a week for the last 20 years. It is a major road through the town. There are high walls that make it difficult to even see the river. Most of the time I drive over that bridge focused on something else - usually which lane I need to find on the other side and don't even think about the fact that I was on a bridge and there is a torrent below me. Several years it was well into summer before I realized that I had missed the whole see-the-beautiful-waterfall spectacle of the spring.

Our faith - the knowledge that God loves us, knows what we need and will care for us - is sometimes like that first bridge. We are intimately aware of the power of the troubled waters of our lives and how God is providing a way over them. We may get a little wet, but will emerge unscathed despite the power of the situation. Fortunately, though, most of our "bridge" experiences become more like the second variety - we sail over them oblivious to the torrent below us - focused on where God is leading us. We learn to trust Him no matter the amount of water in the river. Our faith is being sure of what we hope for - what God has promised - and He will provide.

Why We Pray

We can't wait to pray until we feel worthy to pray. Martin Luther said, "Prayer must not be based on or depend on your personal worthiness or the quality of the prayer itself but on the unchanging truth of God's promise. If the prayer is based on itself, or on anything else besides God's promise, then it's a false prayer that deceives you. We become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God's faithfulness alone." We are only able to pray because God bridged the gap between him and us, not because we have earned the right to pray.

Just as we can't wait to pray until we feel worthy, we also can't base our desire to pray on whether or not we feel God is listening, or if we think He will answer it. God always listens, regardless of how we feel. I have heard people say that their prayers 'hit the ceiling and bounced right back down' which reflects their attitude rather than God's aptitude. And, while some people seem to have a special direct line to God in their prayers, God listens to all of us equally. There are some folks I call when I need Serious Praying done, but that doesn't mean any of us have an excuse to not pray. God hears us all and responds to all of us. He loves us! He has given us promises - which He always keeps!

Prayer is sharing our thoughts, desires, feelings, and fears with our Father who loves us fully and without reservation. There isn't anything better than that.

Seasons of Life

Life is a dance with its rhythms and melodies. I wish that was original with me, but it can't be. The symbolism is too obvious. The song sometimes is in the minor key and the dance is slow and difficult, and sometimes the song is bright and cheerful with a beautiful fast swing dance. We generally don't get to choose the song that is played but we do get to choose how we respond to that music. The only thing that matters is that we listen for the music. As long as we let God be the choreographer it doesn't matter about the music, or the dance, or even how well we dance.

There are natural seasons of life just like the seasons of the year. We have winters where the song is slow with dark strains of low strings. Spring comes to speed up the tempo and bring in the higher strings and reeds. Summer is a bright, up tempo song with lots of brass and the holidays follow with it's broad, rich, majestic organ music. Our lives do the same thing except there is no guarantee of each season only lasting 3 months. No matter which season we are in or what music we hear, God is the composer and more - he makes the instruments, the music and the dance itself. We can find great comfort in that.

Forgiveness

I want to remind you about God's forgiveness. God wants us to recognize when what we have done is wrong and that we don't want to do it again. That's called repentence. When we repent, He forgives us! He doesn't just sometimes forgive us, nor does he just forgive us when He's in a good mood, He forgives us! Totally and completely. He "remembers our sins no more!" It doesn't matter how often we do the same sin, if we truly want to stop doing this sin, He forgives us every time. He forgives you every time you ask! HE LOVES YOU! Say it, "God loves me totally!" No, really, say it! It is the one truth in our lives we can KNOW is true - all the time, in every way.

On Grief

"I don't know how someone gets through grief when they don't know God." Have you ever heard this statement? It is a recognition of the help God gives us as we walk through the difficult journey after the death of a loved one. We recently have lost 3 young people in our church. Over the last couple of months, a young father died suddenly after surgery, a young newlywed died of leukemia, and a baby died of heart problems. Each death was difficult in it's own way and there are many people at our church who are hurting.

Over the years I have had the experience of walking through the grief process with many people. It is clear to me that those who know God traverse the journey in a more healthy manner than those who don't. For a non-Christian, the death of a close loved one leaves a hole that doesn't heal and can breed bitterness and anger which lasts a long time. For a Christian, grief is still painful but as God heals us, we are left with a scar that is actually stronger than the original. I can attest to this in my own life, as well as other's lives. It is the fact that we have trusted God through the difficult times that we can help others through their difficult times.

Grief is not something anyone wants to have to go through but be assured, my friend, that if you have to go through it, God will be there. You will look back and see His healing presence at every turn, in every step. It is truly easier to go through holding His hand. If you don't know God already, ask Him for the help you need to get through whatever you are gong through. He loves you!

On Temptation

It's a well known verse: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." (1 Cor 10:13). But I'm amazed at how often it is misapplied. This verse is talking about how He helps us handle the temptations that come at us, not at the events that cause the temptations.

The events that happen in this life are many: financial ups and downs, deaths, betrayals, physical disasters, and on and on and on. The temptations are also frequent. A temptation is that thought we have that makes us want to to abandon our reliance on God - it is when we are being lured away from God. Everyone has those thoughts - they are common to man. The question is what do we do with them when they come? Do we allow them to draw us away from God?

When we are faced with difficult events, we are tempted to respond as most people do - with anger, fear, or even a sense that God has abandoned us or even that God is testing us or trying to teach us something and until we can learn it the bad things will continue to happen.

God's 'way out' is not to stop the events that are behind the temptations. He doesn't always make the bad stuff go away. His 'way out' is that He is there and will walk with us through the events. It isn't about the events at all. It's about our response to everything that comes our way. It is our continued reliance on God.